Lasers are prevalent in many areas of medicine today. For example, lasers find application in diverse medical areas, such as surgery, veterinary medicine, dentistry, ophthalmology, and in aesthetic medical procedures.
In many of these applications, an optical fiber is used to deliver radiation from a laser to the target region of the patient. Conventional optical fibers are excellent waveguides for radiation having wavelengths in the visible or near-infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g., wavelengths of about 2 microns or less). However, conventional optical fibers are, in general, not suitable in applications where high power laser radiation with relatively long wavelengths is used. Accordingly, many medical laser systems that deliver high power (e.g., about 10 Watts or more), long wavelength (e.g., greater than about 2 microns), do so using an articulated arm that includes optical components that guide the laser radiation through rigid conduits or free space from the laser to the target.